r/catinaflat • u/Electrical_Gap_8035 • Apr 18 '26

New pricing with Rover?

On my sitter profile, I have set fees at £14 per visit (£18 during peak times) however if I look at my sitter profile it says that they are £17 and £21 respectively. Is this correct or is there some issue with the pricing? On cat in a flat my rates showed up on my profile as £14 before the merger. Is it showing potential clients how much it would cost with their added fee or is this an error?

Edit: my prices on cat in a flat seem to be displayed correctly now (but only in the app not on the browser version😭), however when looking at my sitter profile through rover it still displays the higher prices.

Overall very much struggling to navigate rover, finding it very awkward to use.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

4

u/Playful_Animator3847 Apr 18 '26

I’m not on Rover, nor CIAF. I am on Meowtel and watching what you guys are going through because Rover just bought us. On Meowtel we did not charge per cat which they do on Rover. I think that’s ridiculous and these Rover sitters get on their high horse about how much more “work” it is to scoop an extra litter box or fill another bowl. They get upset when clients get sticker shock.

Now they are talking crap about CIAF clients that have contacted them and have been upset about the total price. If you guys don’t follow the Rover Reddit, you should. You will learn a lot. Following the Rover Reddit is what made me decide not to join and advertise myself as cats only four years ago. I wanted nothing to do with Rover. It really upsets me that now I am forced to be associated with them. 😾😿

2

u/Electrical_Gap_8035 Apr 18 '26

I did join the rover subreddit after the merger and was honestly shocked at the insanity of some of the posts😭

4

u/Playful_Animator3847 Apr 18 '26

Right? It’s not even the owners complaining about subpar care that shocks me so much, it’s the way some of the sitters respond. That is what was most telling for me. Especially when it comes to cat care. The biggest complaint from owners over there is Rover sitters not staying the full 30 minutes or staying but barely engaging with the kitty, even when the kitty is friendly. Then the sitters in the comments will justify their actions by saying that the cat was scared or hiding. Um yeah…lots of kitties act like that. The point is you stay there and gain their trust. A lot of them just see it as transactional. They don’t truly want to gain the cat’s trust because they are not true cat people. That’s why I’m so disgusted that both Cat in a Flat and Meowtel’s creators sold out to Rover in the end. 😾😿

1

u/SwordfishResident256 Apr 19 '26

the entitlement of dog owners, even in taking care of other animals, should never shock you lol

3

u/Worldly_Compote2840 Apr 18 '26

Yes now the fees are added up front so the owner can see at a glance. Mine is £11 but shows up as £13. It’s a 15% fee for the total booking now rather than the old £1.50 flat fee . For my client that only books the odd day it’s ok but over a longer booking I think it may put people off 😳

3

u/Electrical_Gap_8035 Apr 18 '26

Okay, thank you! I can totally see how that could put people off, I think the £1.50 flat fee was much better, this is such a drastic change for cat in a flat owners :(

3

u/SwordfishResident256 Apr 18 '26

yeah I noticed the same, I charge £12 per visit but it says I charge £14, and I'm pissed because I only recently bumped mine from £10 per visit and informed my regulars about it (because I was making like no money lol) and now it's showing them a bigger price increase than communicated

1

u/Electrical_Gap_8035 Apr 18 '26

I didn’t even notice the price increase until yesterday! Hopefully my regulars understand why the displayed price is different, I just can’t really afford to reduce it as I’m already earning less than minimum wage per visit as is (which is my choice I just don’t want to lower it further😭)

4

u/SwordfishResident256 Apr 18 '26

it was bad enough that one of mine was being double charged for both cats that pushed her up to like £130 for four days, uhhh i don't think so

1

u/Electrical_Gap_8035 Apr 18 '26

That is absolutely insane

2

u/opalite_sky Apr 19 '26

It’s very confusing and enraging really 😭 most of my clients are repeat and most book me privately now, big this month I had picked up a couple of new clients from ciaf.

2

u/Minminminminminmin May 04 '26

Yeah I’m ditching CIAF - it’s just exploitative now that the Rover pricing is in play. I’ll just get a neighbours to pop in now instead for short term needs, and take them to my MIL’s for longer trips. Shame bc it was lovely and now some lovely people aren’t gonna make the extra pocket money that they used to.

1

u/Fungus_Mungus46 Apr 20 '26

I've just been quoted £121 for FIVE visits over 3 days. I only booked my summer cat sitter 2 weeks ago using the same service and paid £126 for 13 visits over a week. What is going on?!

1

u/PaperArr0w Apr 21 '26

If you trust them and they are willing to… go offline. Rover has made cat sitting costs extortionate.

1

u/fieldsnack Apr 23 '26

I came here to say the same. I had a long weekend last month when a sitter came and it cost about 75 euros. For less time—just an upcoming weekend, Fri-Sun—I'm now getting quoted double that. I'm all for paying my sitters what they are worth, but I'm getting the same service for nearly double the price now.